Water at the Bar
by Thornedaisy
Summary: BETHYL, AU, NO ZA: Beth has always lived a quiet life. Go to school, study, repeat. Until one night her friend Tara makes her come to a bar to get out of the house and when Beth meet the bartender, Daryl, she knows that she won't be going to any other bar anytime soon. (Rating may change in future)
1. Water

Beth sat looking in the mirror for the past 10 minutes wondering how she could get out of another one of Tara's plans.

"Beth! You have 5 minutes to come out of that room looking hot or I'm coming in after you!"

"Why do I have to come? I just want to stay home for the night, I have a big exam tomorrow! Can't you take Amy or Rosita?" She pleaded. She can't take another night of Tara's "awesome" plans. Last time Tara made Beth go with her she left her behind and she had to walk home. Beth knows she means well but while Tara likes her parties and fun Beth likes her quiet and boring. The way her life has always been.

Tara stomps up the stairs to Beth's room and swings the door open, "You have to come! You have been holed up in your room for weeks and you need some fresh air."

"Fine. But only because I know you will drag me out of here against my own will." Beth turned back to the mirror and finished braiding her hair. If she was going to be forced to this bar she would at least try to look good.

* * *

"Hey sweetcheeks, what ya drinkin' t'night?"

Beth turned to the voice on her right and stared at the man next to her. He was older and looking a little rough, definitely the kind of man you wouldn't want to be caught alone with.

"I don't drink." Beth replied. She had been sitting at the bar for the past hour being ignored by the passing males and she was okay with that. Her goal for the night was to make sure that Tara didn't leave her stranded, not to pick up some random guy.

"Well then, what's a sweet lookin' girl like ya doin' here? This don' seem like a place ya would be caught dead at." The man asked.

"My friend wanted to come. I only agreed to come because I know she would drag me here against my will if I said no, so it was easier to say I would go and just sit at the bar until she wanted to leave." Beth looked at the man beside her and explained why she was here and he looked at her and gave a slight nod.

"Name's Merle. Don' see why you should be sittin' alone. I'll keep ya company." Beth looked at Merle and gave a little smile, he seemed sincere. She gave a little nod and a quiet "thank you" and went back to sipping her water.

A beer suddenly appeared in front of Merle and he gave a slight nod and looked up to the bartender with a smirk. Beth looked over the bar and froze when she looked at the man standing there. He had long, dark hair and was wearing a leather vest over a black shirt. He looked up and his gaze was stuck on Beth. She saw his bright blue eyes and knew that she was done for. She had never seen a man this rugged but this handsome before.

"Baby brother, meet my friend Beth, Beth meet my brother, Daryl."

* * *

Brother? That was Merle's brother? She looked between the two men and then back at Daryl. When she looked back at Daryl he was already looking at her and she shuddered.

Beth heard a mumbled "hello" and a grunt, then he was gone. She watched him walk to the other side of the bar to get a drink for a new customer. Hearing a small snicker, she whipped her head around to Merle and saw another smirk on his face.

"If ya stare long enough he might even do a trick."

Beth glared at Merle and turned around to find Tara in the crowd of people dancing. Tara caught her eye and motioned for Beth to come dance with her but Beth smiled sweetly and shook her head not wanting to leave her place at the bar. She felt a hand smack her leg as Merle stood up with his beer in his other hand and watched him make his way to the dance floor to dance with her friend. Beth smiled and turned back around to the bar.

When she turned back around she saw that her previously empty water had been filled and she saw the angel wings on Daryl's leather vest walking away from her place at the bar.

Beth waited a few more hours at the bar until Tara was tired enough to go back home. The whole time she was at the bar her water would mysteriously be filled every time she turned her back to the bar and Daryl wouldn't be far off. A few times she caught his eye and he would quickly look away. At one point, he caught her staring at him and she quickly looked away but not before she saw the small smirk that rested on his face.


	2. Coffee Surprise

**I don't own any of TWD.**

* * *

When they made it home, Tara looked at Beth with a grin on her face. Beth had been waiting for Tara to question her all night and the time had finally come. "So, who was the mystery man that I saw you staring at all night?"

Beth rolled her eyes and walked to her room, ignoring her question. She took off her shoes and threw them in the closet and slipped into her pajamas just wanting to get some sleep. Of course Tara would not let her go that easily though.

"Come on! Just give me info! He was pretty hot. I mean you know how I like the ladies but that doesn't mean I am blind to attractive guys." Tara jumped onto Beth's bed and stared at her until she answered.

"Okay, geez! His name is Daryl and he's just the bartender. I was talking to his brother for awhile and they both seemed nice enough. I don't know anything else about him so I guess we are done here." Beth pushed Tara off her bed and told her goodnight. But Beth couldn't seem to fall asleep because every time she closed her eyes she saw those blue eyes and that leather vest.

* * *

The next morning Beth woke up and knew immediately that it would be an "I need coffee to survive" kind of day. She got up and put on the nearest pair of sweat pants and the cleanest shirt she could find. Apparently it would be an "I need to do my laundry" kind of day too. Gathering up all her clothes she ran to the laundry room and on the way got a coffee order from Tara saying that she couldn't get out of bed until caffeine was in her system. Beth laughed and quickly started a load and left to walk to the nearest coffee shop.

On her way to get her coffee, she was so engrossed in her phone that she didn't see the person she smacked right into.

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going, Candy Crush just seems to absorb all my attention once I start." She heard a chuckle and looked up at the person that she ran into and took a step back in embarrassment.

"Hey, it's fine. Candy Crush gets the best of all of us every once in awhile."

Daryl stood in front of her holding a cup of coffee and a bag of pastries. He had a small smile on his face and just as she was about to say sorry again she saw a little girl, around the age of 4, run up behind him and grab onto his leg. He looked down and had an even bigger smile on his face as he reached into the pastry bag and gave the little girl a muffin. The little girl looked up at him with a smile that was missing a tooth and the next words out of her mouth sent Beth back a few steps.

"Tanks daddy, it's my favorite!"

Beth smiled on the outside but on the inside she freaked out. _A daughter?! How old is this guy? _Daryl looked back at Beth and his smile shrunk a little.

"Uh well, Beth, this is my daughter, Lux. Lux, this is my friend Beth." Beth looked at the little girl as she hid behind her father. She bent down to Lux's level to say hello which seemed to make Lux more comfortable because she stepped out from behind her father's leg and quickly took Beth by her shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

"I think we will be best fwends. And you are very pretty. Daddy, can eat with us, because I want to play with her."

Daryl looked at Beth with a shocked and embarrassed expression as he peeled Lux's hand off Beth's shoulders. She looked at the father daughter duo and smiled kindly.

"I'm sorry but I promised my roommate that I would bring her coffee. She refuses to get out of bed until she gets her caffeine fix for the day and she has a class soon so I have to get some coffee to her." When she saw the look on Lux's face she regretted having to say no to the little brown haired, blue eyed girl. Daryl picks up the little girl and takes a sip of his coffee while staring at Beth with an expression she can't figure out.

"Maybe next time. I'm sorry if she freaked ya out with the touchin' and lookin' ya in the eyes thang. She heard her uncle say that ta make people listen, ya have ta look them in the eye and she goes overboard sometimes."

"It's fine, I thought it was pretty cute. I will take you up on some breakfast next time I run into you though. It sounds like it could be fun." Beth smiles as she says this because even though she is still processing that he has a daughter, she could also see herself becoming close to this little family.

* * *

Beth runs back to the house so she can share the news with Tara.

"Oh my gosh Tara he has a daughter!" Beth yells and Tara sprints out of her room, still in her pajamas, and grabs the coffee from her.

"What took you so long? I need my caffeine 30 minutes ago! Wait, who has a daughter?" Tara grabs Beth's hand and drags her to the couch to tell her everything.

"Daryl does! The bartender from last night, I ran into him while getting coffee and BAM! Out pops an adorable little girl that's calling him daddy." Her friend looks at her and starts laughing.

"The one time you find someone that you're attracted to and he has a kid! You literally have the worst luck." Beth glares at Tara and flips her off.

"It's not that bad. I mean I know he has a kid but I don't think he's still with her mom, he hasn't mentioned anyone and neither did his daughter. There are worse guys in the world rather than a guy who has a daughter." Tara smiled a little after Beth said this and nodded her head.

"You're right, it just kind of sucks. You finally find a guy you might like and he already has a kid with someone. But I trust you and your decisions and all I have to say is that I want to officially meet this guy sometime. I'm still your best friend and have the right to tell him I will mess him up if he hurts you." Beth grinned and shook her head. Her and Tara could go back to the bar soon and she can threaten him all she wants. She just hoped that Tara wouldn't scare him off before anything ever happened.

* * *

**AN: This is my first time writing so please be kind! I always have little stories forming in my head so I thought it would be cool to see if other people enjoy my stories as much as I enjoy writing them. Some writing feedback would be cool too. Please review! Thank you for reading!**


	3. Dixon

**I don't own any of TWD.**

* * *

"I know Daddy, I'm on my way right now. I'll be there as soon as I can." Beth hung up the phone after saying bye to her dad and looked at the dashboard clock. It was Friday night which meant it was family dinner night. Friday night family dinners have been a tradition ever since Shawn moved out. Now that all the kids have moved out and are on their own her dad always makes sure that they all show up for their dinners. He tells her that the house just isn't the same ever since all of the kids moved out.

She was just leaving Atlanta when her car stuttered and she rolled to a stop on the side of the road. _What now? _She though. Opening her door, she walked to the hood and popped it open. Smoke started billowing into the air as she stepped back and huffed in annoyance. After standing there for a few minutes, staring at her disaster of a car, she called Maggie and told her what had happened.

"I'll call the nearest mechanic for you and I'll come and get you. I told you that car would suck, by the way, you should have listened to me." Beth rolled her eyes and agreed with Maggie, she wouldn't stop saying she was right until she agreed.

"Okay, you're right just call a towing company and get me please."

* * *

20 minutes later a tow truck drove up to her and the man jumped out of the truck. She looked up at the man and smiled.

"Hey Merle! Aren't I lucky that you're here!" Merle smiled at her and started to hook her car up to the tow truck.

"Come on littl' lady, hop in the truck, I'll get your car all fixed up." When they got to the auto shop she saw the sign that said Dixon Mechanics and looked at Merle.

"So you work here? Seems like a nice place to work." Merle let out a chuckle and gave her a sideways look.

"I own this fine business, last name's Dixon." _Daryl Dixon, _she thought, _I like it._ She stepped out of the truck while Merle unhooked her car to see what the problem was when she heard the squeal of joy.

"Uncle Merle, you're back! I have ta show you what T-Dog taught me! It's so co…Miss. Beth! I didn't know you were gunna be here!" Merle looked at Beth with surprise while she bent down to pick up Lux and give her a hug.

"Hello Lux, I didn't know you would be here! It's a good thing you are here because I need someone to keep me some company while your Uncle Merle fixes me car. I would love to see what T-Dog taught you." Lux reached into her pocket for a coin and proceeded to show Beth her new trick, then she ran into the other room saying she was going to get her coloring stuff.

"I didn' know ya knew 'bout her." Beth nodded and gave Merle a little smile and told him how she bumped into Daryl and met Lux the other day.

Lux bounded into the room with some crayons and paper and shoved some crayons at Beth and told her to start drawing. Her and Lux drew for what felt like forever while Lux went on and on about how great her daddy was and how she went to work with Uncle Merle when daddy was working. She grinned and listened until Merle interrupted.

"I won' be done with the car 'till 'morrow so I'll give ya a call when it's ready. Ya should come out ta the bar sometime soon. It's awfully lonely without ya there now. I bet Daryl would love to see ya too." He smirked when he said this and she blushed and was about to tell him that she would come around soon when she heard Maggie call her name.

"Beth, c'mon, we got dinner to eat and I'm starving!" She looked at Lux and stood up after telling her that she would come back to play with her another time and walked over to Maggie.

"I'll be there in a minute, hold on!" She walked to Merle and wrote down her phone number so that he could call her when her car was done. "I'll come to the bar soon, don't you worry."

Maggie grabbed her hand and dragged her to the car after yelling a thank you to the men in the shop and sped out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.

* * *

The next afternoon she got a call from Merle saying that her car was fixed. When she got to Dixon Mechanics she went up to Merle to get her keys and when she started her car to leave he came over and motioned for her to roll her window down.

"Come to the bar t'night. Daryl will be workin' which means ya can git all the free water ya want." She rolled her eyes but agreed to come. On her way home she called Tara and told her that they were going out for the night.

After a few hours of homework and making dinner she started to get ready for the bar. She threw her hair into a messy bun and swiped on some makeup. Running to her closet she put on her favorite jeans and a sweater and went to knock on Tara door to tell her it was time to go.

"This is a first. You're actually making me go out to a bar. What happened to plain old safe and boring Beth?" She grumbled a "whatever" and ignored Tara telling her to get in the car. On the way to the bar Tara kept badgering Beth for information until she glared at her and told her to stop.

When they got to the bar they walked to where she saw Merle sitting by himself. She quickly sat down and told the bartender she wanted a water and ordered a beer for Tara. When Tara's beer came, she ran to the dance floor and left Beth alone with Merle. She kept glancing down the bar, looking for a certain blue eyed, leather wearing man.

"Don' worry, he ran ta the back for a second. He knows yer comin', so he wouldn' miss working tonight for anythin'." She glared at him and told him to shut up and he laughed. She was about to tell him that she wasn't here for Daryl when she saw him walk behind the bar. He glanced up at her and when he made eye contact he smiled a little and headed her way. She looked away and when she turned back he was placing a water in front of her because the other bartender forgot. She grabbed his wrist and felt him tense up so she let go, but not before she looked him in the eyes and said thank you for once.

"ain' nothin', doin' my job." He then walked away to help someone else. She heard a gruff laugh next to her.

"This is goin' be better than I thought."

* * *

**AN: Thank you for reviewing! I really enjoy writing this story and I'm glad that other people like it! Please review and let me know what you think. **


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